Jain Journal 2001 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 17

MISHRA : THE DATE OF MAHAVIRA
161 most unequivocal terms that one particular rainy season was spent at Rajagrha by the Buddha as well as Mahavira and five other heretical teachers. Scholars so far have not paid serious attention to it. Had they done it, they would have been able to find out the correct date of Mahavira. Charpentier also knew this passage and certain other passages of the same type. On page 126 (foot-note 29) of the Indian Antiquity for 1914, he says - "The Majjhima Nikāya II, p. 2. sq. tells us how the six heretical teachers once spent the rainy season in Rajagrha at the same time as Buddha. Mahavira spent fourteen of his varsas there according to Kalpa Sūtra 8122." But he, too, ignored it. This passage, as a matter of fact, provides us with another means from the Buddhist side (besides the one indicating that Mahavira predeceased the Buddha) to arrive at the correct date of Mahavira.
We proceeded to find out the date of that specific rainy season and consulted the lives of the Buddha and Mahavira, viz., Buddhacaryā (in Hindi) by Rahula Sankrityayana (2nd ed., Banaras, 1952) and Sramaņa Bhagawan Mahāvīra (in English) by Muni Ratnaprabha Vijaya, Vol. II, Parts I and II (Ahmedabad, 1948 and 1951) respectively. According to the former the date of the Buddha is 563 B.C. - 483 B.C. and according to the latter the date of Mahavira is 597 B.C. - 526 B.C. We have, however, followed only the years of the lives of these teachers with regard to particular events and not the dates of these events in terms of B.C. years offered by the two above mentioned writers. We were surprised to see that we could find out the particular rainy season in which both the Buddha and Mahavira were at Rajagrha. This was done in the following way:
In Buddhacaryā, which is a systematised collection of the Hindi translation of the selected passages from ancient Buddhist literature, especially Tripitaka literature, it is stated (p. 248) that Lord Buddha spent his 17th rainy season (after enlightenment) at Rajagrha; and then follows the Hindi translation of Mahāsakuludāyi Sutta (Maj. Nik, II. 3.7) in which it is said (p. 249) that on that particular occasion both the Buddha and Nirgrantha Nataputta spent their rainy season at Rajagrha. Taking 567 B.C. as the date of the birth of the Buddha this comes to 516 B.C.
On the basis of the life of Mahavira written by Muni Ratnaprablia Vijaya who has closely followed the early traditional literature on the subject we prepared the list of places where Mahavira spent his rainy seasons after leaving his home (with dates). We took 561 B.C. as the date of the birth of Mahavira and found that he spent his rainy season in 516 B.C. at Rajagrha. This was his sixteenth rainy season in his